>> By Anson Tse | >> Photos by Derek Mau

Pros

• Zero lag turbocharged engine that goes
• Well balanced chassis that pushes front wheel drive handling to the limit
• “No lift” shift algorithm
• Incognito appearance

Cons

• Cheap plastic interior panels
• Sub par craftsmanship
• Incognito appearance

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The British government says more than 35,000 new cars have been ordered through its new car scrappage program since it was launched a month ago. The government and car industry are sharing costs to offer discounts of 2,000 pounds ($3,225) to new car buyers who trade in a model more than 10 years old.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Friday the program helps consumers and protects jobs by stimulating demand for new cars. The auto industry in Britain is faltering and 11 successive months of declines in new car sales have led to production cut backs and layoffs.

This is not a novel idea, but the British have been more proactive in doing it. Our “Cash for Clunkers” program here in the U.S. is a similar concept, but we’ve been much slower in implementing ours. It’s a great way to get gas guzzling, polluting old vehicles off the road, and provides real incentives for both drivers and car dealers alike. Let’s get on the ball, Obama and Friends. If the Brits took to this program so positively, surely we will too? Right?

The future for Chrysler LLC remains unknown after a hearing to sell its assets to a group headed by Fiat SpA ended late Wednesday evening without resolution.

During testimony in a packed Manhattan courtroom Wednesday, the value of the Auburn Hills automaker was central to arguments heard in U.S. bankruptcy court here. Lawyers for Chrysler said the sale of the assets was critical to the company’s future and that without approval by June 15, it would result in the liquidation of the company.

How will this play out? Will Fiat get what it wants? I believe they will, primarily because they seem to be the only company willing to take on Chrysler. Sure, Fiat will end up getting a lot of concessions. But, that’s what you get when you’re buying a ticket on the Titanic. If Fiat is willing to take on this problem child, they deserve some major breaks, the way I see it.

The hearing was to continue today before Judge Arthur Gonzalez. If he approves the sale of the assets, the new company, Chrysler Group LLC, will prepare to start operations to build and sell Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles as soon as possible.

Ford, perhaps the healthiest of the big three automakers in this very unhealthy time, seems to be pulling another smart move if the rumors about its Euro-only city car, the Ka, coming to the U.S.

Again, this seems like a no-brainer to me. Not only has the precedent been set with the success of the Smart Car (as far as small and urban vehicles are concerned), but this is another off the rack solution to raising CAFE and emission standards. All Ford (or GM or Chrysler for that matter) has to do in a lot of instances is sell cars over here that they’ve already been selling in Europe. And if not whole cars, there’s lots of efficient power plants than could be dropped into the engine bays of North American models.

So bringing the Ka to the North American market (there’s no reason not to sell it in Canada) seems like a good idea. And Ford already has a performance variant rolling along the roads of Europe, so there could also be some fun out there as well. If Ford is smart and this rumor proves to be true.

There’s been no official word from Ford yet concerning the Ka’s potential future here in America, but the recent Chrysler/Fiat deal could give the Ka an in for the U.S. market. Fiat’s 500 and the Ka share the same platform, which could present an interesting cost-cutting scheme for Chrysler, Fiat and Ford.

Source: LeftLaneNews

Photo from Flickr user Panoramas

If you’ve ever had the near-death experience of riding in a New York City taxi, and I have, you’ve probably thought to yourself, ‘It be better if a robot was driving this thing.’ Well, someone seems to have heard our pleas (or at least mine) and they are working on developing robot taxis.

Naturally, this is just in concept form at the moment, and just as naturally, it’s coming from Europe. Specifically, it’s coming from a Czech firm by the name of Kubik Design. Kubik Design’s Robot Taxis look a lot like modernized version of those transportation pods you see in Sci-fi movies like Logan’s Run. You know, more like an appliance than a conveyance.

Kubik Design foresees a networked systems of these robot taxis, electrically powered and very low cost to both operate and use. All of them would be synchronized through any city, and aware of each other. You could jump in one of them at any point and reach any destination, door to door, in next to no time. It would be one ever evolving, always self-adjusting, fully optimized, and redundant public traffic system … no, wait, that was the giant Krell machine from Forbidden Planet, we shouldn’t do that.

But seriously, apart from the liability issues, is there a reason why some of these couldn’t be test deployed in a major urban center as a test?

Source: Gizmodo

Here’s some interesting news out of the U.K. that could have applications here in the U.S. Opel’s new Corsa ecoFLEX model has record setting efficiency, getting 50.8 mpg U.S., making it the most economical production vehicle in the company’s history.

OK, so why is this important to us here in America? Because Opel is owned by General Motors, and GM, like all other U.S. auto companies, are facing increased CAFE fuel economy standards. And here’s a car, or at least a drivetrain, that GM already has on the shelves that gets over 50 MPG in a thoroughly modern package (air bags, ABS, and all that). What the Opel Corsa ecoFLEX shows is that you CAN have efficiency AND all the modern safety and convenience features that people expect.

And the Corsa ecoFLEX is easy on the wallet when you first buy the thing too.

In Britain, the Corsa ecoFLEX is available in two trim levels (humorously called Life and Club) with prices starting at $17,270 in U.S. money. The Corsa ecoFLEX also qualifies for the British governments ’scrappage’ incentive, like the “cash for clunkers” deal which is being proposed for the USA, which means you get another £2,000 discount.

So, it might not be a Corvette, but here’s a car that GM has sitting in its quiver, and already rolling in the streets of England and Europe. It would seem like this would be an easy enough car to get federalized and get on the streets & highways of America if GM wanted to.

Source: CarScoop

Photo from FLickr user gmeurope

By Gary Chan

Pros

• HEMI power and acceleration
• Navigation system accuracy and ease of use
• Autostick® 5-speed transmission that matches perfectly with the engine

Cons

• Thirst for gasoline
• “Am I speaking English?” voice command system
• Uncomfortable front seats

As one of most powerful cars I’ve ever tested, I was eager to see what an American car could do compared to the high-ticket, high-powered imports I’ve driven. Not nearly as refined as the hi-po imports, the fun-factor of the SRT8 kept me grinning while accelerating effortlessly mile after mile.

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More than 20 major foreign carmakers, including General Motors Corp. and Germany’s BMW AG, will skip the Tokyo Motor Show later this year to save costs, the organizer said Thursday, underlining a deepening slump in the global auto industry.

When money gets tight, car shows suffer. They’re essentially a form of advertising, and when things go south, advertising and marketing are the first things to get cut. It’s not a very forward-thinking approach—I mean, how are you going to attract customers if they don’t know about your new vehicles? But, in a volatile market like this one, cutting expenses by not attending shows, for example, is all part of the game.

22 foreign carmakers have decided to pass on the Tokyo Motor Show, leaving only four foreign makers — including South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co., Italy’s Ferrari and British race car maker Lotus — at the event. All 22, which also include Ford Motor Co., Volkswagen AG, Porsche SE, had attended the previous Tokyo Motor Show in 2007.

Japan praised President Barack Obama’s new rules to push green vehicles and transform the U.S. auto industry — a shift that likely puts Japan’s manufacturers at an advantage. Obama announced rules this week that would bring new cars and trucks sold in the United States by 2016 to an average of 35.5 miles per gallon (15 kilometers per liter), about 10 mpg (4.2 kpl) more than today’s standards.

Toyota Motor Corp., the maker of the Prius hybrid, which gets 48 miles per gallon in U.S. city driving, gave Obama “high praise” for promoting technology to boost mileage and fight global warming. And now it appears as though they’re going to be rewarded for it, which I think is great.

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Hey, check this out: There are people actually interesting in buying Hummer off of GM. General Motors has received serious bids from three outside companies for its Hummer unit, but that it is holding talks with two potential suitors according to CEO Fritz Henderson. The automaker has been trying to unload Hummer since late last year and it says that the much-delayed sale could be wrapped up by the end of this month.

The big question is, of course, who is GM going to peddle Hummer to. Thanks to the negotiations being on-going, and various confidentiality agreements, the General won’t say who either of the bidders are, although the rumors from a few months back had various Chinese and Middle Eastern concerns at the front of the line.

General Motors has been on the verge of selling the money-bleeding brand for what seems like years now, but has postponed the announcement of Hummer’s sale several times. These ongoing delays have lead to rumors that there has been little legitimate interest in the brand, or that it might just be PR hype to keep interest up.

Of course, the funny thing is, a range of trucks like Hummer could be of interest to the right kind of manufacturing concern. If a company were to market them as the trucks they are, rather than as something that the “patriotic” soccer mom uses to tote the kids around in, maybe Hummer could be a going concern.

Source: LeftLaneNews

Photo from Flickr user Bah Humbug

By Danny Chang

Pros

• Power
• Lots of amenities and luxury features
• Roominess
• Weird styling

Cons

• Weak MPG
• Complex navigation system
• Light steering
• Weird styling

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Remember when everyone in the car world was running around like something from a biblical epic, gnashing their teeth, wringing their hands, because they thought that judgment day had arrived and this was it, the auto world was coming to an end. Well, tell that to the Germans. While car sales in America are still in the “not so good” territory, German car sales went UP by 19.4 percent in April. That rise compares with a frightening 37.4 percent drop for U.S. car sales in the same month.

Analysts believe that the bump in sales for Germany is largely due to the government’s incentive scheme to scrap old cars and buy new ones that was introduced in February, what is termed here in America as a “cash for clunkers” program. The 19.4 percent up-tick in April, which translates to about 380,000 units, followed a 40 percent leap in car sales in March to around 401,000 units. New car sales in Germany during the first four months of the year are at their best level since the record year of 1999.

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Despite all of the economic turmoil swirling around General Motors these days, they still say everything is on track for the late 2010 debut of the Chevy Volt plug in hybrid. “At this point in time, I know of no reason why we can’t be in production by November of 2010,” said Tom Stephens General Motors’ global product development chief, to a group of journalists on the sidelines of an event at the University of Michigan. He also said that the American automaker is on plan with the development of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid.

Stephens, the replacement for Maximum Bob Lutz as GM’s vice chairman of global product development, also said that General Motors has yet to make a decision on which of the three remaining GM brands, Cadillac, Buick and GMC, would get a vehicle based on the Volt’s plug-in hybrid drivetrain. As we all know, Pontiac got the axe, and GM is trying to sell off Saturn and Saab as quickly as they can.

“Its best utilized in urban vehicles. We have to consider what is the usage of the person buying the vehicle. For a commuter who drives 40 miles a day and takes it shopping on the weekend, it’s the perfect application,” said Stephens concerning who else would get the advanced hybrid drivetrain.

Many signs point to Buick, a brand that has turned into a surprise hit in China, as being the brand that will get the Volt underpinnings.

Source: CarScoop

Photo from Flickr user Kevin.Ward

Hot Moms with crushes on their tennis coaches. Professors with NPR tote bags.  This is what I think of when I hear the word Volvo.  But like Madonna and her new adolescent boyfriend, Volvo is retooling its image and possibly skewing to a younger set.  Volvo, in conjunction with SimBin (maker of the game Race Pro which scored 72% on Metacritic) has released a Volvo racing game called, wait for it…Volvo: The Game.

The game allows you to race Volvos that span each generation (including the 850 station-wagon, which to me, its inclusion is a tongue in cheek send up of the Mom car, but which Volvo calls a legend) or the futuristic looking V60 concept car.  I like old school, but a concept car, for any racing game enthusiast, is always cool.

As we all know, the success of a racing game comes down to five things: graphics, handling, varied skill level, track and cool cars.  The graphics look good.  Side by side photos of the game’s station wagon and the actual wagon were hard to distinguish.  Handling.  We’ll know May 26 when the game is made available.

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Review by Twain Mein

Pros

• Zippy and economical 2.0T
• Smooth shifting S-tronic gearbox (a.k.a. DSG)
• Audi’s über-cool LED daytime running lights
• Magnificent suspension setup and Audi ride quality

Cons

• Pricey with options
• Back seat legroom worse than flying Economy Class on Southwest

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